The Unlimiting Sales Playbook
"The only limits to sales are the limits you place on your own damn thinking."
- Mark Cuban
In 2010, a failing Domino's Pizza made what seemed like a suicidal move.
They ran national TV ads admitting their pizza tasted like cardboard.
Not a subtle hint. A literal video of focus groups saying, "This tastes like cardboard" and "the sauce tastes like ketchup."
Wall Street analysts predicted disaster. Marketing gurus called it brand suicide.
But you know what happened?
Their sales jumped 14.3% in the first quarter of 2010. Since then, Domino's stock has delivered a total return of over 2,000%, outperforming tech giants like Amazon, Apple, and Google over that period.
Why am I telling you this pizza story?
Because it illustrates the central paradox of breakthrough sales performance: The targets that seem impossible are only impossible because of what we believe is acceptable to attempt.
The Great Sales Delusion
Most companies believe their sales targets should follow a predictable pattern:
Last year's results + modest growth percentage = this year's "ambitious" target.
This approach isn't inspiring, it’s just a mathematical mediocrity formula.
According to McKinsey research, companies that set ambitious growth targets are 2.4 times more likely to outperform their industry peers than those who set incremental goals. Yet 63% of companies still use last year's performance as the primary factor in setting targets.
Instead of asking "How can we grow 15% this year?" the top-performing organizations ask questions like: "What would it look like to double our revenue while working less?"
When you ask these seemingly absurd questions, something interesting happens. Not only do you get better answers—you expose the limiting beliefs that have been keeping your sales capped all along (Pro tip… You have to be ready and willing to listen for them).
The Four Horsemen of Sales Limitation
Most sales organizations are operating far below their potential. Research from Bain & Company found that the average company achieves only about 60% of its sales productivity potential.
Not because they lack talent. Not because their market is saturated. Not because their product isn't competitive.
But because they're trapped in what I call "The Four Horsemen of Sales Limitation":
1. The Constraint of Incrementalism
"A 20% increase would be ambitious."
Why? Says who? Based on what evidence?
This artificial ceiling comes from confusing what's familiar with what's possible. It's math masquerading as strategy.
2. The Myth of Market Limitations
"Our market can only support X amount of growth."
Really? Then why is your competitor growing at 3X your rate in the same market? With a product that's objectively worse? (Let's be honest, their UI looks like it was designed by a distracted toddler with a crayon.)
3. The Resource Fallacy
"We need more people/more budget/more tools to hit bigger targets."
This one's seductive because it feels responsible. Like bringing a salad to a dessert potluck. Everyone respects it, nobody wants it.
According to research published in the MIT Sloan Management Review, companies that improved their sales productivity significantly often did so by reducing complexity rather than adding resources.
4. The Conviction Gap
"Deep down, we're not fully convinced our solution is worth what we're charging."
This is the silent killer. The one no one talks about at sales kickoffs while they're busy getting hyped about "crushing targets" and collecting branded water bottles.
A study in the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management found that salespeople's belief in their product's value was a stronger predictor of success than their years of experience or technical knowledge.
Take an honest look at your sales operation. I guarantee at least two of these horsemen are riding through your company right now, trampling your potential.
The Breakthrough Sales Formula
So what's the alternative? How do you set and achieve those seemingly impossible targets?
It starts with a radical rethinking of how sales targets should be set in the first place.
Most companies: Take last year's numbers → Add acceptable growth percentage → Set target → Create plan to hit target
Unlimiting approach: Figure out what your stuff is actually worth to customers → Charge closer to that real value → Set goals based on what's possible, not what's comfortable → Identify and kill the BS that's holding you back
(If the real value to your customers is too low to create the growth you want, you know where to focus first)
Research from the Alexander Group shows that companies using value-based approaches to guide their sales strategy achieve win rates 38% higher than those using traditional methods.
The Three Levers of Unlimited Sales Growth
If you want to shatter your current sales ceiling, three levers create exponential rather than incremental growth:
Lever 1: Value-Based Pricing
Most companies set prices based on:
What competitors charge
What they've historically charged
What they think the market will bear
These are all fundamentally limiting approaches. Like letting your ex pick your wardrobe for a first date.
According to research published in the Harvard Business Review, companies that implement value-based pricing see profit increases averaging 15-25% over those using cost-plus or competition-based pricing methods.
The unlimiting question is: What is the actual value we create for customers, and how close can we get to charging in alignment with that value? And charge in a way they want vs the way it has always been done.
Lever 2: Conviction Alignment
The uncomfortable truth? Most sales teams don't fully believe in what they're selling.
Not in a fraudulent way. But in subtle ways that undermine their effectiveness:
They hesitate at crucial moments
They discount too quickly ("Would you like 20% off with that? No? How about 30%? Please buy something!")
They over-explain instead of asking for the business
They avoid the highest-value prospects
Create what I call "Conviction Infrastructure"—systematic processes for building and maintaining belief in your value:
Collect and share customer success stories internally
Connect salespeople directly with successful customers
Eliminate all internal negative talk about the product (the "complaint train" after customer calls)
Require leadership to regularly sell alongside the team
Lever 3: Zero-Based Sales Design
Most sales processes aren't designed—they're inherited, like that weird ceramic frog collection from your great-aunt.
The typical sales organization is a layer cake of historical practices, random tools someone purchased, and processes designed for a market that no longer exists.
Zero-Based Sales Design means starting with a blank slate and asking:
If we were building our sales function from scratch today, what would it look like?
Which activities actually drive results, and which are just busy work?
What if every sales activity had to justify its existence?
Research from the Sales Executive Council (now Gartner) found that eliminating low-value activities can increase seller productivity by up to 30% without adding headcount.
Your 30-Day Unlimiting Sales Plan
If you're ready to break through your current sales ceiling, here's how to start:
Week 1: Expose the Limiting Beliefs
Have each member of your sales team anonymously complete these sentences:
"We could never sell to..."
"Our price ceiling is probably..."
"The biggest deal we could realistically close is..."
"A reasonable growth target for us would be..."
Discuss the patterns that emerge. These are your current belief-based limitations.
Week 2: Calculate Your True Value
Identify your three most successful customers and calculate the actual financial impact of your solution for their business. Don't rely on marketing materials. Do the real math.
This will give you a baseline for what your offering is actually worth (versus what you believe it's worth).
Week 3: Design One Breakthrough Experiment
Choose one aspect of your sales approach that seems untouchable—your pricing model, your target customer profile, your sales process—and design a 30-day experiment to test a radically different approach.
Make it small enough to be manageable but significant enough to prove that your current ceiling is artificial.
Week 4: Create Conviction Infrastructure
Implement a systematic way to reinforce belief in your value:
Daily sharing of customer success stories
Weekly team discussions about the value you create
Regular exposure to your most successful customers
Elimination of discounting authority
Remember: Confidence isn't a personality trait. It's a resource that can be systematically developed.
The Only Real Sales Ceiling
The hard truth? Your sales aren't limited by your market, your product, or your people.
They're limited by what you believe is achievable.
So the question isn't: "How much can we grow next year?"
The question is: "What would be possible if we removed all artificial limitations?"
Because when it comes to sales performance, there's only one ceiling that matters—the one you've constructed in your own mind.
And limits are a choice.